The goals and intentions of police are honourable, but they have been condemned and found guilty for committing acts which are just contrary. This happens because the powers given to them to fulfil their social responsibilities are also capable of giving them the freedom to abuse and crush the constitutional rights of the society. It also depresses the dignity of the officials and wobbles the foundation of trust and faith imposed on them by society.
One of the primary reasons that the Police Authorities does take a benefit on the part of the common people is that they don’t have the knowledge of the provisions which are providing them remedies in each of the situations. Most of the times, people think that even a minor blunder can get them arrested and to avoid that, they let police exploit them by all illegal means.
When it comes to youngsters, the biggest problem is the fear of family. Let’s all accept it; Indian families are rarely liberal, and kids cannot share everything with their parents without the fear of being thrashed. They feel the punishment they get at home will be harsher than facing the police, and they end up getting exploited.
To keep yourself benign from being a victim of such police exploitation keep a take of the laws which are being identified or under which the work is done.
If you have been penalised once in the day, you may be released after that
Riding around without a helmet can land you into trouble, but once you are punished for it, the challan slip can get you out of being fined for the same till midnight.
Yes, but this is not an encouragement to do so. Be safe while driving.
Head constables have limited prosecution power
No head constable can fine you for any offense which presently has a penalty for more than Rs.100. But the violation of more than one rule can result in a challan of higher value.
Traffic police are prerequisite to carry a challan book or e-challan machine in order to imprison you. Not having any of these, the police cannot punish you.
Traffic Police Doesn’t have the right to confiscate your documents
If you have been asked to stop by traffic police, ordinarily the first thing that you are supposed to do is that you must stop your vehicle and just show the documents asked by the officer.
Remember, you are only expected to show the driving license to the police. It is entirely your choice if you want to hand over the documents or not.
Section 130 of the Motor Vehicle Act downright conditions that the driver of a motor vehicle in any public place shall on ultimatum by any police officer in uniform produce his license for examination.
As you can see the law only states, “produce” and not hand over.
Traffic Police Does not have the rights to take your keys
It is a very common practice in India by traffic police just to take out keys of your vehicle while questioning you. First of all, the traffic police have absolutely no rights to keep the key without the permission of the vehicle owner. In case they do, the citizen has the right to lodge a complaint against the policeman.
Also, traffic police cannot tow your car as long as you are sitting in it. You have to vacate your vehicle before they can tow your car.
The police do not have the right to beat the accused, under any circumstances
Whether the complaint filed against the accused has been proven to be true or not, the police have no right or authority to beat up or assault the accused. Not even if the concerned court remands him to the Police custody.
While arresting an accused, the police are dutybound to follow the certain procedure as per the guidelines issued by the Hon’ble Apex Court (applicable to all over India). As per the law, if the accused is already arrested, and if the investigation is not completed within the period of 24 hours from the time of arrest, then the police are required to produce the accused to the nearest Magistrate. There, the police either seeks police custody or judicial custody remand of that accused.
Women have the right not to get arrested at night
Unless the case is exceptional, on the orders of a first-class magistrate, a woman cannot be arrested after sunset or before sunrise. If the police force her, she has the right to file a complaint against the police, which can cost them their job.
Women’s Right to no arrest
Several instances have been filed of women being harassed by policemen in the wee hours or during interrogation. The Supreme court clearly rules against this. Under section 160 of the women cannot be called to the police station for interrogation, and she has the right to deny being physically present there.